I first found my great uncle, Henry James Webb,
on the British Census for 1881 on Find My Past.
His age was recorded as being one year and he was and living with his family in Lambeth,
London. The website FreeBMD showed that his
birth was registered in the September quarter of 1879. The General Register Office's records now make it
possible to see the maiden name entered for a birth registered before 1911.
This confirmed that the birth for Henry James Webb for 1879 showed his mother's
maiden name to be Locke. I already knew that this was my great grandmother's previous
surname. The
Parish Records for London on Ancestry
produced a baptism for Henry at the church
of St Mark's in Kennington on 14 September 1879.
The Webb family
returned to their roots in Southampton in the 1880s. This is evident from the Civil Records recording the births of two of
Henry's younger sisters. By 1890 they
were in Portsea where his remaining younger brothers and sisters, including my
grandmother, were born. Baptism and Census records show that the family lived at various addresses in the
centre of Portsmouth. It was common at the time for families to be constantly
moving from one address to another.
Henry is recorded as
being 11 years old on the 1891 Census. He is described as a scholar. The family is living at Waterloo Place in the
centre of Portsmouth. Both the websites,
Find My Past and Ancestry,
show Henry to be 21 years old on the 1901 Census
and employed as a carter for a builder.
Along with his family he is now living at 18 Common Street,
Portsea. This being Henry's parents
along with five of his brothers and sisters. The
Parish Records for St Mary's Church, Portsea can be found on Find My Past. From
the Baptism Records for Henry's brothers and
sisters it is possible to establish that the Webbs moved to 18 Common Street
between May 1898 and April 1901. They left this address between November 1901
and August 1904. The trail for Henry goes cold after the 1901 Census. He does not appear on the 1911 Census.
Changing his age along with permutations of his name and its spelling
does not produce a result on any website.
This included checking to see if Henry was using the name James so as
not to confuse him with his father. I had seen a record for 1911 attached to a Public Member Tree on Ancestry
for my family. But was not fully convinced that the man shown in London
was Henry.
It is not uncommon
for people to be missing from the census for a variety of reasons. So, does Henry appear on any other
records? The most obvious thing to do
would be to search for a marriage record. The name Henry Webb was and still is a very
common name. Searches on Ancestry, Find My Past and FreeBMD fail to produce
an obvious candidate. Following this
thread would mean purchasing a large number of Marriage
Certificates to check the personal details. Although such certificates are vital when
tracing an ancestor it is more economical to narrow down the target group
beforehand. The same applied when
checking for a death record around the same
time. The General
Register Office's index for deaths now shows the age of someone who died
before 1911. Still no record shows that can obviously be connected with Henry.
When conducting these searches I did not confine myself to the geographical area around Portsmouth. I also looked at other areas Henry's family
had connections to namely London and Southampton.
Still, no
breakthrough. Never mind there are still
other options. Henry would have been 35
years old when the First World War broke out
in 1914. His brother and his
brother-in-law died within a few days of each other at different locations on
the Western Front. It is possible that
he enlisted as well. Here again the fact
that he had a common name produces a problem.
Both Ancestry and Find My Past have records for service personnel of
this period. These include Medal Cards along with
Service and Regimental Papers. Unfortunately these records are not complete
as many were destroyed during enemy bombing in the Second World War. Looking through the records that remain does
not produce an obvious link to Henry.
The Imperial War Museum's website Lives of the First World War is dedicated to
preserving the memory of those people who served between 1914 and 1918. Here again a search did not produce any great
breakthrough. Looking through the website of the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission also failed to produce a positive result.
Then I heard a
breakthrough. Having signed up for
emails from Find My Past giving details of
the new records released every Friday I
started receiving new information about Portsmouth. These included Portsmouth
Military Tribunals 1916-1918 which were created when conscription was
introduced in 1916. This raised the
possibility of checking if Henry Webb was exempt form military service for some
reason. Entering his details on the webpage produced six results. These all
related to Henry James Webb of 11 Fratton Grove whose year of birth was given
as 1875 or 1876. Which put this man in Group 46 of the Derby
Scheme. Group 46 would be the last group to be mobilised. On the two
1916 records he is married on the 1918
documents he is single. On the final document dated August 1918 he has become a
special constable. This voluntary post could help to gain exemption from
military service. He is shown as a builder's head carter. His exemption was
requested by his employer, James Crockerell, contractor, of Victoria Road
North, Southsea. A search of the Newspaper Archives
at Find my Past show that James Crockerell was a
prominent businessman in Portsmouth at that time. He served on the Munitions Tribunal. The records for Henry James Webb looked
promising. They showed the correct name
and the same occupation as the 1911 Census. An
Old Ordnance Survey Map of Portsmouth in
1896 confirms that Fratton Grove was
close to Common Street. The problem seemed to be that this man was born
a few years before my great uncle. There
was also the fact that initially he was shown as a married and then became
single. All of this required further
investigation.
Looking at the 1939 Register on Find
My Past for Portsmouth I found a Henry J Webb born on 10 July 1879. He was single and worked as a labourer at a
timber saw mill. By coincidence some of
the Webb family's ancestors had been timber dealers in the New Forest. Also living at 2 Cross Street with Henry was
Hilda E Couch. Her birth date being
given as 17 June 1914. She was single
and employed as a paper bag maker. So,
what was the connection between Henry and Hilda? They could be related or one could be the
householder and the other a lodger. When researching someone it can be useful
to look at people they are associated with. Therefore I decided to take a look at Hilda.
As Hilda had been
born in 1914 her name would not appear on any census. Knowing her exact date of birth should make
it easy to search for her on the civil records.
Being born after 1911 means that her mother's maiden name (if there was
one) would be shown on any index. A search for 1914 produced a record for Hilda
E Couch born in the September quarter in Portsmouth. Her mother's maiden name being Lucas. This extra piece of information would make it
possible to search for Hilda's parents and siblings. Hilda could be the first
child in the family or she could be the youngest in a very large family. Therefore it would be necessary to search a wide date range. The search pages on Find
My Past and FreeBMD enabled me to
enter Surname Couch, Spouse's surname Lucas, Date 1905
+ or - 10 years, Location Portsmouth. Both databases produced the same result.
Edgar Ernest Couch married Ada Maria Lucas in the second quarter of 1895 on
Portsea Island. Now it would be possible to use the General
Register Office's Index to look for any other children Edgar and Ada may
have had. By entering the Surname, the Mother's Maiden name and a date range I
was able to find the births of Hilda's siblings. Ada Lilian 1895, Robert Ernest
1897, Rosina Kate 1899, James 1902, Henry James 1907 and Jessie Vera 1912. They
were all born in Portsmouth. Therefore
it should be easy to trace them on the census.
Unfortunately this
was not to be the case. A search for
Edgar Couch in Portsmouth on the 1901 Census failed to produce a result. Although it did highlight a Edgar E Couch
living in Torquay.
Edgar E Couch Head
24 Married General Carter born Torquay
Elsie A Couch Wife
19 Married born Portsmouth
Amy L Couch Daughter
One month born
Torquay
Various searches on Find My Past for
Ada Maria Couch along with Ada Lilian, Robert and Rosina were unsuccessful. I
tried Free
records on FamilySearch without success.
I did find an entry on Ancestry but as I did not have a subscription I was not able to access it. Then I
decided to try the 1911 Census on Find My Past starting with Ada (Maria). This
did produce a result in Portsmouth.
Although it raised many more questions. A brief summary is given below.
1911 4 Harcourt Terrace, Somer Road North
James Henry
Couch Head 35
Married Builders Contractor
Carter Born London
Ada Maria Couch Wife
34 Married
Born Portsmouth
married 16 years 7 children born alive 5 living
2 died
Ada Lilian
Couch Daughter 15
Corset maker
Born Portsmouth
Rosina Kate
Couch " 12
" "
Gladys Victoria
Couch " 8
" "
James Henry
Couch Son 4
" "
Elsie May Couch Daughter 2
" "
The names and ages
of some of the children matched.
Although my previous search had not produced Gladys or Elsie. Ada
Maria's name matched as did the number of years she had been married. James Henry Couch was the same age as Henry
James Webb and also listed London as his birthplace. His occupation again matched Henry's and the
name was certainly interesting!
I decided to do the
same as I had for Hilda and try and obtain some background information about
Ada Maria. By the same process using the
GRO Index and Find
My Past I manage to establish that Ada Maria Lucas was born in Portsea
in the June quarter of 1874. The maiden name of her mother being Short. The
record on the 1911 Census would put Ada's year of birth as 1877. I carried on and traced a marriage for Robert
Lucas and Jane Short in Alverstoke in the June quarter of 1864.
Pressing ahead after
some searching in the 1901 Census I located the following family.
1901 11 Common
Street, Portsea
Robert Lucas Head
70 Widower Casual
Labourer born Yeovil, Somerset
Robert Lucas Son 35 Single Rivetter, Boiler born Portsmouth
Sidney Lucas Son 9
born Portsmouth
*Ada Couch Daughter
25 Married born
Portsmouth
*Ada Couch
Boarder 5
born Portsmouth
*Rosina Couch Boarder
1
born Portsmouth
Florence Ward
Boarder 28 Single Stayworker born Portsmouth
On each of these
entries * on Find My Past and FamilySearch Couch has been transcribed as
Conch. All of the information above has
been copied from the original rather than the transcription. A search for Couch would not work as the family
were listed under Conch on both Find My Past and FamilySearch .
So, I had managed to
find Ada Maria with two of the children.
She was living with her father at 11 Common Street and Henry James Webb
was with his parents at 18 Common Street.
I had a connection both Ada Couch and
Henry James Webb were living in the same street.
Then I decided to
look in the local newspapers to see if any
of the Lucas, Couch or Webb families featured.
People can be mentioned for all sorts of reasons and it is always worth
a punt. Returning to the newspaper archives at
Find My Past I started with Edgar Ernest Couch. Where I immediately found two articles.
Perhaps things were going to get a little easier!
An entry in the Portsmouth News for Friday 28th April 1911 referred to Ernest Couch
asking for a dissolution of his marriage to Ada Couch. The petition named James
Webb as the respondent. Earlier articles from 4th and 5th July 1899 were posted
by Edgar stating that he would no longer be responsible for any debts incurred
by his wife. In 1899 Ada's address is 10 Common Street. So, now I needed to
establish if there were any surviving records relating to the divorce.
I managed to find
details of the divorce on Ancestry.
Unfortunately I did not have a subscription! Fortunately a lady at a family history group I attend allowed me to use
her subscription. This revealed nineteen pages of
material about Edgar, Ada and Henry James Webb.
It seems Edgar and
Ada were married at Portsmouth Registry Office on 8th April 1895. Their daughter Ada Lilian being born on 29
September 1895. A son Robert Ernest was born in 1879. Robert died and was
buried at St Mary's Church on 14 August 1898. The family home at this time was
18 Common Street. Sometime in 1898 Ada Couch left her husband . At an
unspecified time she started living with Henry James Webb. Ada and James lived
at various addresses in Portsmouth and by 1911 had five children. Edgar asked
for a divorce on the grounds of Ada's adultery. On 2nd May 1911 Edgar was granted a
Decree Nisi. This was not the end of the story. Ada and Henry did not
defend the original petition. Although in December 1911 the divorce was rescinded. Evidence was provided
showing that Edgar had himself had two relationships each resulting in the
birth of a daughter. Therefore as Edgar had committed adultery himself he was
not entitled to a divorce. Hence he and Ada remained married until her death in
1936.
It seems that Henry James Webb adopted the name Couch for records that
related to his children. He used the name
Webb for records that only related to him, for example, the War
Tribunals. When registering the births of their children Henry and Ada used the
family name Couch. On these registers Ada sometimes gave her maiden name as
Lucas and on others as Webb. The same occurred when their children were baptised.
Children of Ada
Couch nee Lucas and her husband Edgar Couch
1. Ada Lilian Couch
Born 29/9/1895. Maiden name of mother
Lucas.
Baptised 17/10/1902. St Mary's,
Portsea. Parents James and Ada Couch. Father's occupation carter.
Address 23 Fratton Grove.
Married William Henry Hoile 25/12/1915.
St Mary's. Father Edgar Couch. Address 11 Fratton Grove.
2. Robert Ernest Couch
Born 1897. Maiden name of mother Lucas.
Died Sept qtr 1897. Buried 4/8/1898 St
Mary's.
Children of Ada
Couch and Henry James Webb
1. Rosina Kate Couch
Born 18/6/1899. Maiden name of mother
Lucas.
Baptised 17/10/1899. St Mary's ,Portsea.
Parents James and Ada Couch. Father's occupation carter.
Address 23 Fratton Grove.
2. James Couch
Born 1902. Mother's maiden name Lucas.
Died June qtr 1902.
3. Gladys
Victoria Webb Couch
Born 27/5/1903. Maiden name of mother
Webb.
Baptised 29/9/1904. St Mary's, Portsea.
Parents Edgar and Ada. Father's occupation carman.
Address 19 Fratton Grove.
4. Henry James Couch aka Henry James Couch
Born 1/12/1907. Maiden name of mother
Lucas.
Baptised 9/6/1909. St Mary's, Portsea.
Parents James Henry and Ada Maria. Father's occupation labourer.
5. Elsie May Couch
Born 22/96/1909. Mother's maiden name
Webb.
6. Jessie Vera Couch
Born 6/5/1912. Mother's maiden name
Lucas.
7. Hilda Couch
Born 17/6/1914. Maiden name of mother
Lucas.
Children of Edgar
Couch and Elsie Amy Pyle
1. Amy Couch
Born 28/2/1901 Devon. Mother's maiden
name Pyle.
Children of Edgar
Couch and Blanch Barham
1. Ivy Blanch Couch
Born 19/11/1906 London. Mother's maiden
name Barham.
Edgar Couch had a
further relationship with a lady who described herself as Maude Elizabeth
Couch. Edgar and Maude appear as a couple on the Electoral
Registers for London in 1920. They are
described as husband and wife in the newspaper
articles detailing their bankruptcy in Torquay
in the later 1920s.
Ada died
in Portsmouth in 1936. On the records she is recorded with the name Ada
Couch. Edgar died in London in 1939.
Henry Webb died in Portsmouth in 1961. There is not any record of him marrying
after Ada's death.
So, the
reason I had serious problems finding Henry James Webb was that he often used
the surname Couch in order to have the same name as his children. Problem
solved! Eventually!
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